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Portland As Mass Transit Mecca: A Failure To Launch

Oregon's largest city, Portland, has long been a model of transit planning and alternate forms of transportation. Ever since the days of Neil Goldschmidt, regional leaders have adapted the planning model to attempt to force commuters from cars to such mass transit options as bus, light rail and street car (paradoxically not considered the same thing). Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has famously championed MORE congestion as a way to force people out of their cars. Despite this high powered attempt to paint Portland as a mecca for extremists hoping to end individual reliance on cars, the results show little actual positive effect.

When they weren’t riding demo trips on the light rail, they attended seminars with names like “Bikeways and Green Streets,” “High-Speed-Rail and Development Paradigm Shifts,” and “Sustainable Communities for the New Economy.” Portland’s mayor presided over one of the seminars, and Earl Blumenauer, the left-wing congressman who represents Portland’s east side, was a featured speaker. The event, one local wag noted, had the air of a religious revival.

Since 1980, before the first rail line was opened, transit’s share of work trip travel in the metropolitan area has declined by one-quarter, from 8.4 percent to 6.3 percent. Overall, the share of travel by car remains about the same as before the first light rail line opened [in 1986].

Transit access to destinations outside downtown Portland remains scant. Despite the huge expenditures on transit, only 8 percent of the jobs in the metropolitan area can be reached by the average employee in 45 minutes, despite the fact that nearly 85 percent of workers are within walking distance of the transit stops or stations.

According to the latest American Community Survey data, the average work trip by people driving alone in Portland is 23.6 minutes, while the average transit commute trip is 43.8 minutes.

Further, Portland transit users could face draconian service reductions. Tri-Met, which operates light rail and most Oregon services, has warned that it may be required eventually to cut 70 percent of its service. This results from the failure to control labor costs, particularly pension costs, which is detailed in an Oregonian article.

As a resident of a suburb of Portland, I can personally attest to the uselessness of light rail. I live within a 4 block walk of one MAX stop, and used to work in a building right at another stop. Yet I was unable to commute via mass transit, because I had children to take to school, various other stops to make along the way, and a need to get to meetings outside my work hours that required me to have my own personal vehicle. What light rail proponents fail to consider is what we like to call "real life", where errands are run and groceries are bought and kids are brought to soccer practice and violin lessons. The stats bear this out.

It's a wonder that planners even still consider these to be viable options.

Earlier this year, Gov. Eric Holcomb (R-Ind.) signed legislation to raise the state gas tax of Indiana in order to increase road funding. The move had major support from the leadership of the state Republican Party with Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma saying “It’s a program that’s responsive, comprehensive, sustainable, and it’s for the next generation.” It seems interesting then that Gov. Holcomb promised to take Indiana to the “next level” since this seems like a step back.

FreedomWorks is proud to announce that our Bill of the Month for September 2016 is S.1541, the Transportation Empowerment Act introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), and its House counterpart, H.R. 2716 introduced by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla). These bills respect the principles of federalism, would cut the federal gas tax, and reduce bureaucracy. Talk about making freedom work.

As one of our over 6.9 million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and urge him or her to vote YES on the McClintock amendment to H.R. 749. This amendment would fully eliminate federal subsidies for Amtrak.

The federal Highway Trust Fund, after years of being raided by Congress to pay for wasteful transportation and extravagant infrastructure projects, faces a $160 billion shortfall over the next decade, which has some lawmakers from both sides of the aisle openly floating a bailout in the form of a gas tax hike.

As one of our over 6 million FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and urge him or her to vote YES on the following amendments to the Transportation and Housing & Urban Development (T-HUD) appropriations bill, H.R. 4745. FreedomWorks may score votes for any of the following fiscally conservative amendments in its 2014 Congressional Scorecard.

Let’s be honest: by now, we were supposed to have flying cars. Do you see any flying cars? No, nor do I. What’s worse is that people seem to think that they’re the top priority in automotive technology. The U.S. Department of Transportation wants cars to be able to “talk” to each other by 2017. It’s Big Brother’s Dream come true.

The 1970s were awful and not just because of the fashion. The decade of Nixon, Ford and Carter was plagued with skyrocketing oil prices, hours-long lines at gas stations, and ubiquitous warnings of environmental catastrophe.